The first step to rank better on Google with the free Google keyword tool is to understand how to use it.

to find it, the first tip is to make sure you have a Google AdWords account. Setting up an account is free, you don’t have to spend anything, but doing this allows you to bypass the “captcha”  – that awful test to see if you are human that I usually fail . . .

What’s with that, anyway?

Rank Better On Google – With An Adwords Account

When you have a “Google AdWords” account, you can login to the free keyword tool with your account and avoid those annoying “captcha” forms and also get up to 800 results instead of 100.  Usually your login will just be your gmail login, so if you don’t have a gmail account, get one of those too – they’re free.

Do we have any questions about why Google is dominating the world?  Offering lots of free stuff gets us hooked, and then they get us to spend money for ads that make them billions every month . . . but I digress . . .

There are three kinds of searches you can do using their tool.  A “broad match”, a “phrase match” or an “exact match” search.  Here’s what each of those mean:

Rank Better On Google – “Exact Match”

The “exact match” choice means Google will return only the traffic counts on keywords that have traffic for exactly that phrase. An example we’ll use as our phrase “dog training”.

Rank Better On Google – “Phrase Match”

“Phrase match” will return a larger search volume because Google is looking for any search phrases that include your phrase no matter what comes before or after it in the search string.  So, with this option Google will give you counts that include phrases like “Golden dog training”, “Dog training my terrier”, “Dog training for dummies”, “German Shepherd Dog Training”.

Rank Better On Google – “Broad Match”

“Broad match” is now looking for any search phrase that includes these terms in any order, with any other words before, after or in the middle of the phrase.  Phrases like “training my dog to sit”, “why does my dog pee in my house – I thought I was done with training him?”  Will show up in the search count.

Rank Better On Google – “The Secret”

Normally, SEO experts tell you to focus on the “exact match” searches to define your market.  But, what they are missing is that the difference between the “phrase match” results and the “broad match” results are an indicator of how many “long tail” searches are being done.

“long tail” searches are those with phrases from 3 – 10 words long.  Although the number of searches on any specific “long tail” term may be low, if you target correctly, you can get found for thousands of long tail phrases which will, in total, amount to a lot of traffic.

Rank Better On Google – “How To Use This Secret”

When you see search results for a phrase that has many more “broad match” listings than “phrase match” listings, what you need to do is include many of those lesser trafficked terms in your post.  Make sure they make sense, but by including 10 – 20 other phrases in your post, your post will get ranked for all kinds of obscure phrases.

Hope you found this helpful and, as always, call me anytime at 720-890-8760 or go to my blog at joemcvoy.com for more info

A few posts ago, we discussed 4 things that affect the way you get ranked better on Google.  Here are two more you probably didn’t even know about.

Get Ranked Better On Google – Using Google Authorship

You have seen examples of this whenever you do a search.  Google authorship is the term for having your photo show up next to your post in search results. You will get ranked better on Google if you use it.  See the examples below.

There are two separate reasons that this helps you. First, Google likes people to identify content that belongs to them that they created, and second, people are more likely to click on a search engine result with a photo. It seems more personal and people can feel more like they know you.

So, how do you get this done?

1. You need a clear headshot type photo.
2. You need a Google + account.  If you don’t have one yet, they are free.  Go to plus.google.com  to set one up
3. Next, you will need an email address at the same domain as your site/blog.  This is easy to set up by going into your hosting account and creating it there.  I already had joe@joemcvoy.com
4. You need your “author byline” to match your name on your google plus account.  I found this to be confusing as how to make it happen, so I recommend you install the free WordPress plugin called “Google+ Author Information in Search Results (Free Version)“
5. Once you install the plugin, your getting close to done.
6. You need to link your email from your site to your Google + page and also do it the other way too.  The Google site explaining this is here:  https://plus.google.com/authorship
7. Now, to check to see it works go to the “rich snippet” Google web site tool and put in the complete URL of one of your posts and you should see it.
8. Understand it can take a couple weeks for Google to get it going, and when you are good to go, they send you an email with the subject line: “Welcome To Google Authoriship”.

Get Ranked Better On Google – Using Google Circles

The next thing that helps a lot is your Google circles count. Not so much how many people are in your circles but how many people have you in theirs.

Google sees this as essentially third party endorsements of you so ranks you higher.

You can use the tool in your Google + account to show you people in your gmail to invite. You can also go on fiver and find people to get you Google circle followers. BUT, big warning, do not go and buy lots of followers all at once because Google will see that and probably penalize you.

Your circle growth needs to seem naturally occurring, not overnight so if you are going to buy some, I’d suggest adding 10 – 20 at a time and then wait a bit before adding more.

Do all these things and you will get ranked better on Google!

One of the key things you need to do to rank better on Google is to pay
attention to these 4 things:

1. How long visitors spend on your site
2. How many pages they view while there
3. “Bounce Rate”
4. Speed at which your site loads

Here’s an explanation of each and why it’s important.

Rank Better On Google – Time On Site

Google algorithm that decides how sites get ranked is based on providing a good experience for the searcher.  One way Google measures this is by how long someone stays on your site.  If they arrive and then quickly leave, Google will interpret that as meaning the searcher did not find what they were looking for and therefore rank you lower on that search term.

The solution is obvious – try to provide more content people are looking for at your site.  Another term for this is “engagement”.  One way to help this is to include relevant videos on your site, that will keep them longer.

Rank Better On Google – Page Views

This also directly relates to engagement and is another statistic Google looks at. The more pages a visitor views, the more engaged they are in your content.

Rank Better On Google – Bounce Rate

Your “bounce rate” is a stat Google tracks that measures what percent of your visitors leave your site without viewing any other pages. It relates to the other analytics – they are all trying to measure the same thing really – did the visitor get what they wanted when they went to your site – if they did, you’ll get ranked better, if not, you get ranked lower.

Since the people at Google are so wicked smart, I believe it hopeless to try to trick them – why not just give the visitors what they are looking for and get some “Google Love”?

Rank Better On Google – Site Load Speed

This one is a bit different. It does still relate to the visitor experience but measures it differently. If your site loads too slow, people will give up and leave. People expect your site to load in a couple seconds, and if it doesn’t they are gone. Google knows all – so they know this too.

I just hired a guy on fiverr.com to decrease my image sizes so one of my sites would load faster, and it’s now loading twice as fast as before and the guy did it for me for $5.00.

So, although site load speed depends on many factors, this one is an easy fix. If the fiverr link doesn’t work – who knows how long the people on fiver are available, just search for “WordPress site load speed” or a similar term and you’ll find people who can do it for you.

Google themselves will track this for you if you have the free Google Analytics tool on your site.  Additionally there are many sites to measure site load speed.

A free site load tool I use is at webpagetest.org

If you are doing marketing on the Internet, landing page conversion is critical to your success.

Thanks to the Empower Network training I’ve bought, I’ve learned a few things about conversion of visitors to leads.  One of the very most important lessons in the case of an email promotion to bring visitors to a landing page is to make the graphics and copy congruent.

What I mean by “congruent” is that when a prospect opens your email and sees your message and image, if they click on it, the page they go to should be obvious to them that they are in the right place. Although I’ve been marketing for decades and on the Internet for quite a while now, I never really never got this until now.

The easiest way to explain this is to show it to you.  Here is an email blast I had sent out yesterday:

Then, when people saw this ad can clicked on it, they went to the landing page that looked like this:

The, because the message, graphics and copy were congruent, I got one of the best opt in rates ever – 48.5% of those who got to the landing page put in their info to opt in!

Now, let’s take it a step further to illustrate why this is so important.  My numbers for this ad were:

• cost to get the ad sent to 46,000 people – $250
• number of people who went to landing page – 258
• number of opt ins – 125
• revenue from immediate sales – $175
• net cost – $75
• cost per opt in – $75/125 = 60 cents each

Typically, I’ll end up with 8 customers from that amount of leads.  Then, if we count to total amount paid of $250/8 = $31.25 cost to get a customer.

This is a home run because my customer value averages $678.  So over a bit of time, I’ll get 8 X $678 = $5,424 of income from a ad that cost $250.  Not bad, think I’ll do it again!

Go here if you would like to see the actual landing page itself and check out the offer!  And go here if you’d like to get the training I use to do this.

What do you think about Internet marketing? Do you research ways to improve your business promotion, then implement them? Many resources are available on the subject of website marketing, such as videos, books, magazines, shows, and more. There is so much. Where do you start when it comes to making your own marketing plan? Use these tips to bring everything together.

If you offer a unique perspective, your website will stand out. Try putting cartoons on your site that have something to do with your service or industry, or give away a e-book. Giving your customers something they can only get through you is a great marketing tool.

Make sure that your website is in a good format that makes its links more easily seen. This will keep your audience engaged and they won’t have to dig around for links.

Use AJAX and Flash only minimally. Flashy graphics may look attractive and catch the visitor’s eye, but it will not make you more visible to search engines. If you want to use Flash or Java script, integrate these elements in your page and use strong keywords to describe this content.

The ads you use should be full of emotional descriptions. This also helps build brand recognition. Utilize descriptive words with emotional connotations, such as ‘security’ and ‘relief’.

Offer a freebie that is personalized with your brand and your website name. If you are offering a free e-book, the book should be submitted to the websites that offer e-books for free. Many websites give their customers freebies, downloads, and e-zines that accept links for you to submit your site.

Before you can aspire to real success with website marketing, you must first have a really good website. Always spot test your site to eliminate things like bad links and glitches that make your business look incompetent. If visitors have a hard time looking through your site, they will probably avoid purchasing anything from you.

Be certain that your website has the information that visitors need. Build a website that offers accurate information and is easy to navigate. You should include plenty of information on different pages of your site, it should be of great quality and pertain to your niche.

Consider the following internet marketing tip. Your landing page should have a very clear objective. The whole point of this type of page is to sell something to your visitors. Therefore, it should be obvious to your visitor that you intend to sell them something when they land on your site. You only have one opportunity to hold the attention of the reader, so if you make things complicated, they are bound to leave again.

You can cultivate some extra traffic by using subtle advertisements that will link readers to a page that tells them more about your product. If the text matches the rest of the article, you can include it inconspicuously. This will not look like an ad at all.

Building and sustaining a customer management database can improve your Internet promotion work. You can use this to see the purchasing habits of all your customers. With this database, you will be able to have communications that are designed for the specific products that complement your customers previous purchases.

Find out what sort of content people in your niche want to read, and give it to them. Figuring out who you want to attract with your content will make designing that content much easier.

Pay attention to what the other companies are doing, and try to think of new ideas based of what you learn. If you see yourself as a potential customer for their products, then they are doing something right. You should find a way to incorporate these ideas into your strategy.

Choosing the right niche for marketing your particular product is crucial. For instance, if you see a need for Star Wars collectibles, it may be difficult if you solely sell baseball cards. It just becomes easier to sell a product or service you are passionate about, as opposed to anything else. Be sure to market according to what your niche is, unless you have two different niches.

Once you have an understanding and a plan, do you think you are ready? It’s now time to apply the concepts you have read in this article to your business. Will you be able to implement these ideas in a practical way? If you feel confident enough in these concepts, get started today!

Internet marketing has nearly limitless profit potential if you know what you are doing. Don’t be overly concerned. These tips will help you avoid the pitfalls.

Affiliate websites are not all the same. There are plenty of partner sites out there that are very hard for would-be customers to use. This may not be an ideal situation, but smart website owners do not allow difficult or hard-to-navigate affiliate sites keep their business from being profitable. This is very helpful because it encourages people to buy your product, and it builds trust.

If people don’t enjoy your emails, then they’ll stop reading them or even worse unsubscribe. Send only your most effective emails to get your customers’ attention during the first point of contact.

Marketing Programs

Affiliate marketing programs can help to market your business better. Generally speaking, you can get a lot more traffic with internet marketing programs than other types of advertising because you will have access to lots of great marketing tools. As you begin to choose what affiliate program works for you, make sure you consider the level of your referral bounties, how popular the directory is, and how easy it is to navigate.

Don’t overrun your web site with banner advertisements. Limiting the amount of banner ad space will make your site look professional and welcoming for visitors. Your website should be mostly content, not ads; what ads do exist should be spread out.

It might take time for you to know which affiliate advertisements are effective for a particular area. Some people are most drawn to flashy advertisements, for instance, while other audiences prefer subtle ads that blend with the design around them. You should choose advertising that meets the needs and desires of your target demographic.

Do your research and check the track record of any affiliate that you join up with: do they pay on time and follow through with commissions? You should find out if all types of orders can be tracked by their systems. If you are owed money, you need to make sure you are receiving it.

Once you have become successful and are making a good salary from this, ask your program directors for a raise. if you make a lot of sales with good marketing techniques, they will generally want to accommodate you with a raise to keep you with them.

Write a note by hand, scan it, then put it up on your site. Using personal touches on your site can make your customers feel more comfortable by about a human being behind the products. Have someone with good handwriting prepare the copy for you if you do not write legibly.

Try using secret links. There are a number of ways to include links in your text without them being intrusive. Be honest, but carefully consider all possible options for placement. Let viewers know beforehand that they will be clicking on an affiliate link so they don’t feel manipulated.

Affiliate Promotion

As is evident by the information in this article, affiliate promotion isn’t quite as complex as it seems at first glance. It takes effort to research and network with others, but it is ultimately worth it. You should have better affiliate promotion results when using the tips above.